RCBS Competition vs Lee sizing dies

[m12lrs]

Although I don't own any, I can see the necessity to FL and shoulder bump cases for gas guns.

Quality tools and equipment are always a plus if the user feels he can justify the extra cost.

I reload for a lot of different chamberings, and LEE suits my needs well, keeping the cost down.

If I were to concentrate on one rifle for competition, I would probably find need of more expensive competition dies.

Different.strokes.for.different.folks

Whatever works for you

Even the top competition guys do things differently

[Texas10]

I am of "the less you mess with it..." school of thought, and when I began hand loading for 223 I bought the Lee Ultimate 4 die set. Didn't take long before I was neck sizing only. Brass wasn't growing, no problem chambering, so why not? The Lee was giving me less than .001 run out on the necks, and the seater die was .003 or less in OAL. What's not to like about that?

Then I bought a 22-250 and got the same Lee Ultimate dies for it. Initial accuracy and consistency was terrific, then began falling off. Wanting to shoot heavier bullets, I bought an 8 twist X-caiber barrel and some new Lapua brass. Again, initial accuracy was great, but then began falling off and that had me searching for answers, so it was back to the forums....

That's when I went to the tool box and dusted off the dial indicator, and then the real education began. The Lee 22-250 dies were producing a bunch of run-out, and the seater die was not even holding within .005 in depth. I could see that some new dies were in my future.

I got an RCBS competition FL sizing die off this forum, and started over with new Lapua brass. Neck run out is .001 or less and it's shooting much better now, but I plan to get the Micrometer seating die anyway to tune my seating depth.

I recently built a 6mm BR and decided to start with the RCBS competition die set, and I have to say that it's a real confidence builder to know your hand loads are the best they can be with regard to run out and seating depth. The RCBS is holding run out and depth to .001 or under.

I will stick with the Lee neck sizer for my 223, but I'll be getting a micrometer style seating die for it too. I have seen the light.....

[tcoz]

As the OP, I said I would report back today after setting up the RCBS Competition sizing and mic seating dies and trying them out. I won't be shooting any of the assembled rounds until Wednesday but what I can tell you is that so far, I'm impressed. The sizing die was easy to set up for .001 shoulder setback. The expander ball is also elevated on the decapping rod and this seems to give much better feel for some reason. Resizing NATO brass was smooth and required less effort than I expected. The mic seating die made very quick work of seating at six different test depths. Repeatability is very easy and the .001 calibration marks are spot on. I was able to dial up a new seating depth and then when I dialed it back to the original, it was perfect.
In addition, runout is right at .001. RCBS must have been making improvements to the dies as time has gone on because I haven't experienced any of the issues that others say they have.
I'm anxious to see how the ammo performs.

BTW, Amazon sells the die set for $89 which I think is a bargain.

[m12lrs]

Glad to see RCBS is stepping up their game. In today's world of CNC manufacturing machining tolerances should be easy to control

I have a dozen or so 40 year old rcbs dies that made perfectly good ammo back in the day.

[RC20]

I have both RCBS comp and the Forster comp and add in a Lee sedater I was given.

I like the Forster large head micrometer die, its precise and easy to set, more accurate than the RCBS but RCBS does fine.

I don't use the expander plug in the dies, as all my stuff is variation on 30 caliber, I have an Lyman M die and do the neck expander after sizing (expander are cut off or removed, some would not come off so they got cut off)

The M die feels a lot easier on the case head, I think its the way to go though another step is annoying. but its like the pistol crimp end, separate crimping step was better overall.

[Fotheringill]

I have and use the RCBS, Redding, and Lee neck sizing dies. There is remarkably less runout with the Lee collet neck sizer. Seating for all is done with a Redding Competition seater. Go figure.

[Nor Cal Mikie]

If you're going to start loading for a gas gun, full length resize BUT, make sure you don't push the shoulders back too far. .001 to .002 is best. Too much working the brass and you'll end up with case head separation. Sooner or later, you'll run into that. No use rushing it.
I've loaded and fired at least 5000 rounds with RCBS full length dies for my M1A without issues. The RCBS Comp seater works like a charm as well as my Rockchucker press.

[Luckus]

I like Forster fl dies and their mic bullet seater. The seater is easy to read and very accurate. Forster can also custom hone the neck of the sizing die to eliminate the expander ball, or to just kiss the neck. I have two set up this way, a 6 Dasher and a 257AI. The folks at Forster are very accommodating and know what they are doing. It seems that everyone who starts handloading has to go through the neck sizing stage (me included) a few stay with it, but most I think full length size. Imo full length sizing with .002 shoulder set back gives the best results. If you neck size you will eventually have to full length or your cases will chamber too hard or not at all. The Lee collet die works as advertised as I used one on my .308 FTR rig for awhile, but you still have to bump the shoulder after 2 or 3 bangs and start all over. My rifle was just as accurate when I full length sized them, so that's what I did. The most important thing about a sizing die is that it's straight. They all make good ones and sometimes bad ones. Luckus

[RC20]

I think I can add a bit of at least information here, maybe not settle things.

I have two guns I have dialed in, one is a Shilen barrel 30-06. The other is 7.5 Swiss.

The 7.5 Swiss has a RCBS comp sizing and seating die. Its the most accurate (or the one I have found the most accurate load for)

The Shilen is a Forster sizer and bench rest micrometer seater. Its close to the 7.5 but (so far) a tenth or so bigger groups.

The Shilen with the best load is about 1/2 MOA, shade less but no more than 7/16. Even with Lapua Brass.

The 7.5 Lothar Walther is running about .250 (PPU brass() .

My take is there is no difference in good dies, its good equipment, the barrel has to be good, the load has to be good as well as the trigger puller being able to do their end.

A die might show a difference with Tubbs class shooters, but for most of us, max nix.